As we have so many esteemed aussie members here, I was just wondering who watched this game and what there thoughts are...personally I was left shaking with rage at some of the calls in this game, not to mention David Barlow HUGE F***UP!

Two threes in a row. David Barlow coughed it up on the last posession, and well.....the result is there for everyone to see. There were just so many BAD calls during that match though. Greece lives and dies at the free throw line. Oh well, as bad as the refs calls were, we can still only blame ourselves.

He should never have taken away that many Sydney Kings players. If i was the National Coach i'd have taken away Luke Kendall and Mark Worthington
there is no room for Barlow or Russel Hinder on my fantasy squad....

And why the fukk is David Barlow starting goddamnit. Brad Newley on the bench... it troubles me.

breezer_79 wrote:You most certainly do. Should be interesting. We'll lose, but I don't think it will be embarrassing, atleast I hope not.

Everyone was calling it to be a 50 point loss but instead was 40. Ah, not much of a difference anyway. But Australia just don't have the men to body up against our guys. Goodjob US. Who's next? Oh wait, isn't it Dirk and the Germans? Uh oh, now who's going to stop him?

breezer_79 wrote:You most certainly do. Should be interesting. We'll lose, but I don't think it will be embarrassing, atleast I hope not.

Everyone was calling it to be a 50 point loss but instead was 40. Ah, not much of a difference anyway. But Australia just don't have the men to body up against our guys. Goodjob US. Who's next? Oh wait, isn't it Dirk and the Germans? Uh oh, now who's going to stop him?

The Australian team needs more big bodies like Chris Anstey and Paul Rogers. Those guys were in the team some 6 years ago and that team was formidable.

Dirk is by himself and will have to fight through quadruple teams! Reckon he'll score 8 or 10pts.

Great to see the U.S. team kicking arse again. It was so strange to see them not be the best and be beaten more than once!

No way Paul Rogers will ever been in an Aussie squad, he's got nothing left in the tank. As for Anstey, well he would have been in the team had he not gone down with an injury. He brings more rebounding and a few blocked shots on the defensive end as well as an outside threat from such a big man on the offensive end. Then you add Matt Nielsen who couldn't play due to an insurance dispute with his euro club, and Glen Saville who I think is also down with an injury, and then....David Anderson, I've got no idea why he couldn't play, and then Luke Schenscher (sp?) who wanted to make the most of his time with the Bulls, which is understandable. Now I know getting all these guys suited up and playing for Aus at the same time was probably never going to happen, but with even half of this extra talent, we would have put up a MUCH better showing. Ah well....now I just have to wait till Beijing.....

breezer_79 wrote:No way Paul Rogers will ever been in an Aussie squad, he's got nothing left in the tank. As for Anstey, well he would have been in the team had he not gone down with an injury. He brings more rebounding and a few blocked shots on the defensive end as well as an outside threat from such a big man on the offensive end. Then you add Matt Nielsen who couldn't play due to an insurance dispute with his euro club, and Glen Saville who I think is also down with an injury, and then....David Anderson, I've got no idea why he couldn't play

David Andersen (the CSKA Moscow player, I suppose that's the aussie you're talking about) spent the last 3/4 of the season injured... I guess that he wasn't ready for the World Championship, because he should have been a starter alongside Bogut in your inside game. I really like that player, and maybe you could have gone further in the tourney with him (obviously not to the point of winning against the USA, but one or two more wins in the group stage would have matched you with an easier team).

Matt Nielsen... I've only seen him a couple of times in Euroleague... and didn't impress me much, but that's not enough.

Anstey is ok as a role player coming from the bench, not much else right now. He wouldn't have been a difference.

And Paul Rogers... I still remember his first game when he signed for Madrid, something like 17 points and 14 boards... while the rest of the season averaged 4 points and 2 boards... He definately sucks more than any other Aussie I've ever seen... I'm sure you're better off with a younger player in his place.